SCOTS SIMPLY STU-PENDOUS
10
Scotland 52
SCOTLAND made it third time lucky at Murrayfield as they cruised to their first home win of the Six Nations with a recordbreaking thrashing of sorry Italy.
Skipper Stuart Hogg admitted ahead of the game he was feeling nervous about standing in for the injured Finn Russell at fly-half.
But the full-back had nothing to worry about as his side ran in eight tries against an Azzurri outfit who will be glad to see the end of a miserable campaign.
It was Italy’s worst
Six Nations in terms of points conceded as Scotland returned to winning ways.
Hogg said: “All week we talked about having a big performance and showing a performance that represented us. I’m chuffed to bits with that.
“We’ve had a huge amount of confidence from the beginning of this Six Nations but it’s the small things that have got away from us.”
Asked if he expects to play at 10 against France next week, Hogg says: “I’ll leave that to Gregor but I don’t think that will be the case.”
Following agonising back-to-back defeats against Wales and
Ireland, this was the soother Gregor Townsend’s team needed and will raise spirits ahead of the curtaincloser away to France.
The rescheduled encounter is to take place on Friday – outside the international window.
There were fears that Scotland and France
Italy
could be without key players but Townsend said: “I’m hearing positive things, so good news.
“I think before the game there was still negotiations and I’ve just been given the heads-up that those look to be coming to a conclusion with a positive outlook.
“Obviously I would be delighted if we get our players for such an important game.”
Italy had shipped an average of 46 points in their four previous games – and the haemorrhaging continued as Townsend’s team became the quickest so far this year to run up a bonus point, taking just 28 minutes to dot down four tries.
Yet it was the visitors who started the brighter, scoring inside six minutes as Luca Bigi squeezed over to score in the corner.
But it would not last as hooker Dave Cherry scored twice on his first start while scrum-half Scott Steele also marked his full debut with a try.
There was a brace too for Duhan van der Merwe while Darcy Graham, Huw Jones and Sam Johnson added to their biggestever Six Nations victory.
Man-of-the-match Hamish Watson said: “It was a really good performance by the boys. We took our time to get into it a bit, but when we did we played really well.
“We said earlier in the week we were gutted after the last two home defeats. It was important to put that right.” SCOTLAND: Tries: Cherry (2), Van der Merwe (2), D Graham, H Jones, Steele, Johnson; Cons: Hogg (6) ITALY: Tries: Bigi; Pens: Garbisi; Cons: Garbisi
We took our time to get into it but when we did we played really well